ROUNDUP: Clark’s girls dominate Southwest League race

Elisa Vazquez did her part, and so did her teammates on Clark’s girls cross country team Saturday.

Vazquez finished first and the Chargers placed five runners in the top 10 to win the Southwest League race at the Sunset Region League Championships at Palo Verde.

Vazquez led from the start and was never seriously chalenged, winning the 3.1-mile race in 21 minutes, 2 seconds. Durango’s Stacie Mitchell was second in 21:20.

The Chargers, who had five scoring runners in the chute before any other school had three, had a team score of 29. Spring Valley was second with 59, followed by Durango with 82.

Clark’s Kira Espinoza-Levy took fourth in 21:57 and teammate Kelsey Rastello fifth in 22:18. Megan Kolvenbach (ninth, 23:01) and Julianna Thornock (10th, 23:19) completed the Chargers’ scoring.

In the boys meet, deep Durango overwhelmed the field by placing five runners in the top seven.

Led by Matt Shelton’s second-place finish in 17:24, the Trailblazers had a team score of 23. Spring Valley was second with 73.
Clark’s Jacob Naylor won in 17:10, but Durango had five of the next six finishers: Shelton, Jaime Mitchell (third, 17:29), Brandon Oxborrow (fifth, 18:20), Nick Ruiz (sixth, 18:29) and Kevin Nitta (seventh, 18:31).

In the Northwest League meet, Shadow Ridge’s girls won a showdown against Arbor View, placing four runners in the top six. The Mustangs had a team score of 26, followed by Arbor View with 41 and Palo Verde with 58.

The Mustangs and Aggies have now met four times in invitationals this season with each winning two.

“We have an experienced core of 11 runners who are all juniors and seniors,” Shadow Ridge coach Patrick Fitzgerald. “They are incredibly close. I can’t say enough about how much they have all stepped it up this year. I am so proud of them.”

Palo Verde’s Kelsi Koch won in 20:16, followed by Shadow Ridge runners Michelle Schenck (20:25) and Mallory Reese (20:38).

Arbor View’s Amberly Halstead was fourth in 20:43, Shadow Ridge’s Elaina Vlassopoulos fifth in 21:15 and Palolo Prince sixth in 21:34.

Strong efforts by Greg Marschik (third in 17:02) and Blaise Hill (fourth in 17:08) fueled Arbor View’s boys to victory. The Aggies’ team score of 44 was eight better than Shadow Ridge.

Centennial’s Nick Hartle won in 16:45, beating Palo Verde’s Sebastian Karbowniczek by eight seconds. Shadow Ridge’s Sam Mahar was fifth in 17:14.